Our Team with guests
Lenchada Safaris
- Office In:
- Size:
- 1-5 employees (Founded in 2015)
- Tour Types:
- Custom budget & mid-range tours that can start every day
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $50 to $400 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
for a custom tour
Your request will be sent directly to the operator
If preferred, you can contact the operator directly
Reviews
Email Andrew | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Worst ever experience
As expats in Kenya, we have taken many safari trips, and the recent one to Masai Mara with Lenchada was unfortunately our worst ever experience. We chose this company out of their overwhelmingly good reviews on safaribookings.com. That probably means that most of their drivers are excellent. But our driver, named Tony, was an exception by a large margin.
Tony clearly hates his job and was cold and rude to us throughout the trip. Every time we met at the beginning of a game drive, he never greeted us and only responded to our greeting with a node. He never helped with our luggage either. During game drives, he never asked us or even notified us before starting the vehicle after a stop, never caring if we wanted to stay for longer. In several cases this interrupted our ongoing photography of animals, and sometimes even worse—the abrupt move of the vehicle on the bumpy road of Masai Mara caused us to fall on the seat. All three of us hit our knees on the armrest of the seats for a few times, and we all got bruises. Having paid a little more to take a private tour rather than a shared one, we expected that we could customize the game drives to a reasonable extent. When we tried to communicate with him about our preferences in animal viewing, however, Tony responded impatiently with cold words such as “You have to be patient,” “I have to follow instructions from the radio.”
And his words about following the radio turned out to be a lie, because his vehicle was not equipped with a radio! A radio is important for any safari trip, and especially for Masai Mara, since the natural reserve is simply too large. Even during the migration season, most part of Masai Mara at any given time would still be empty, and without a radio, on which dozens of drivers share their findings real-time, you will very likely end up not finding anything interesting for a whole hour. Two of the three of us fell asleep for around twenty to thirty minutes during the game drive. In the past we have taken safari trips in less renowned destinations and during low seasons, but the experiences have never been so boring for us that we fell asleep. It may be unbelievable that this happened in Masai Mara during the migration season, but when you don’t see any noteworthy animal for dozens of minutes it would be hard to stay awake. We did get to see some big cats, but that was only possible when we luckily encountered another vehicle that had radio, whose driver kindly shared the information, and our vehicle then made a U-turn to go back in the opposite direction for some fifteen minutes to get to the spot. With a radio we would probably have spent thirty minutes less to get there.
When we realized this problem, we contacted Alex, the managing person of Lenchada. Alex was responsive and attentive. He apologized for our experience, clarified that the driver’s practice of not carrying radio to a game drive is intolerable and against the company’s rules, and told us that he will soon make a thorough check on all the vehicles of his company to make sure that they must have radios. For us, however, the only thing he could offer as a remedy was to extend our final game drive by departing the lodge one hour earlier than planned. We appreciated his supportive attitude and accepted the offer, understanding that it was probably already all he could do within his capability. Tony was late, cutting the extended game-drive time from one hour to less than forty minutes. But the length of the trip turned out not a big issue, because during that extended final game drive, we again fell asleep, for the simple reason that the vehicle still didn’t have radio and we still had not much to see most of the time.
Although Tony had no radio, he attempted to cheat us by saying that he had one. It was only during the second day of the trip, when we heard him responding to another driver asking about information on animal spotting, saying in Swahili “Sina redio” (I don’t have a radio) that we realized he had been lying. When we contacted Alex about this concern, Alex hosted a three-way phone call with us and Tony. To our surprise, in the phone call Tony lied to his boss and insisted that he had a radio which he simply turned off because it was noisy. On our way back to Nairobi, Tony even blamed us for telling his boss about the radio issue, and still insisted that he has radio. When we pointed to the antenna holder in the front of his vehicle, where there was no antenna at all, he said that for some vehicles the antenna is in the back. But one only needs to get off the vehicle and look at its back to know that there’s no antenna there either. For so many times, Tony lied through his teeth.
Tony also told us that because of our complaint, he was going to lose his job. Due to his repetitive blatant lies, we would not believe in what he said. But if what he said is indeed true, that would be an indication that Lenchada really cared about their customers and promptly fired this unprofessional, dishonest, and rude employee. Such a person should simply not be allowed to work in this industry.
In other aspects of our trip that are unrelated to the driver, our experience was mostly positive. For example, the lodge was a good balance of quality and price. It is way cheaper than any accommodation inside Masai Mara, yet it’s only a ten-minute drive to the gate. Since their boss Alex is a responsible and honest person, and since there are many good reviews out there, choosing Lenchada for your safari may still be a good idea. But you have to make sure that your driver is not Tony, otherwise all those good reviews will be totally irrelevant to your actual experience.
IT
Email Francesco | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Amazing experience with a top driver at the best price
Great company for Safari, I would recommend to anyone!
The organisation was very smooth, they realised all our requests in terms of departure date, length and itinerary. It was the best price I found, also listening to other tourists around Kenya.
The night stays were fine: Lenchada camp is located close to all the others camp, food was good and people there are very pleasant.
And then the best part: our driver Khalifa was so much experienced, between all the cars we were always the first ones to find animals around the park, giving us an exclusive experience!
JP
Email Rei | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It was amazing!
We enjoyed our safari tour with good Jeff. He is good at finding animals and driving. We saw a lot of animals in good position thanks to him. Accommodation is also nice, we could use hot water but it didn’t work sometimes.
NL
Email Brent | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Very happy with this trip! Good accommodation and very good wild life
We had a great time! Our driver Moses was very good and we saw a lot of action. The big 5 is in the pocket. We also had a good tent where we slept very well. Also nice to sit at the fire
FI
Email Daniel | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Trusted and perfect experience
Prompt responses from Alex to organise the whole Safari. 8 days with the plan and accommodations and even modification to be dropped in Diani Beach to continue our holidays.
We read on guides that the driver can make good or bad your safari. We were extremely lucky to have John Walter. He was a great professional. Knowledgeable about all the wildlife and always capable of solving any problem. All safaris have situations and he was so good at figuring out what to do.
We saw all the Big Five, the big cats and much more.
Booking from far it is always a bit unclear but i recommend them.
IN
Email Sunanda Das | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Magical
Great experience. Loved the way MOSSES had hosted us. Truly it was magical trip.
Excellent organisation and the tour was more than what we expected.
Alex was an excellent organiser. He understood what our requirement was and fulfilled it to the T. Mosses was pur guide, seemed like no one knew the Mara better than him. We saw the big 5 up close and migration river crossing twice. He made sure we get the perfect pictures. I would highly recommend Lencheda Safaris if you are planning a trip to MasaiMara.
AT
Email Hannah | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Ideal Safari on a budget
Highly recommend the budget Safari with Lenchada Safaris.
Our driver Jeff was an amazing guide who went out of his way to ensure eveyone had the best possible experience and made it possible for us to individually make adjustments to the planned trip (we requested a pick-up in Narok instead of Nairobi), according to our needs.
He shared a lot of knowledge on the wildlife and was able to answer all our questions. Communication was crystal clear and the Lenchada tented camp also great, we especially enjoyed the food (best Mandasis I had in Kenia!!) and bonfires there. Staff was great aswell. Jeff is a very skilled and responsible driver and guide, and a fun person to be around, we would definitely recommend asking for him as a driver :) In the end we had the feeling we got way more then what we paid for :–)
Email Mwangi | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Magical Group Joining Safari
I booked a 3days 2nights Group Joining Safari with Lenchanda and it exceeded my expectations .The departure from Nairobi was well organized and our guide and driver for the trip was Geoffrey Marina very knowledgeable about the animals,engaging ,a safe driver and went above and beyond to ensure that we got the most out of the safari, would highly recommend you get him as a guide .I felt that the package was well worth it as my expectations were exceeded.
MA
Email Milane | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Best choice ever !
We were at first really scared because picking a good agency with high quality service and affordable prices only from the internet can be quite tricky. But Lenchada safaris exceeded our expectations. We can guarantee you for anyone whos looking for à safari to stop looking because Lenchada offers the best service in town. Special thanks to Alex from the administration for his careness and Alex our guide (the best!) for 3 perfect days in Masai Mara.